South Fork Trinity River
Encyclopedia
The South Fork Trinity River is a major tributary of the Trinity River
, in the northern part of the U.S. state
of California
.
It is part of the Klamath River
drainage basin. It flows generally northwest from its source in the Klamath Mountains
, draining about 980 mi2 of mountainous terrain. Flowing from its headwaters in the Yolla Bolly Mountains 92 miles (148.1 km) through Humboldt
and Trinity
Counties, tributaries to the undammed and Wild and Scenic
-designated river include Hayfork Creek
and the East Branch South Fork Trinity.
The river lies in very remote topography and is one of the least developed tributaries of the Trinity River. The resulting pristine habitat is important for several endangered species and rare plants. Historically, the South Fork Trinity was known for its prodigious anadromous fish population and dense old-growth forests, but extensive logging and resource exploitation in the watershed have hurt both of these resources.
The South Fork then shortly after receives Happy Camp Creek from the left and Smoky Creek from the right, then entering an increasingly wide valley, it receives Rattlesnake Creek on the right and flows by the town of Forest Glen, which is also on the right, crossing underneath California State Route 36
. Steadily increasing in volume, the river winds west then turns north, sweeping across the valley floor in wide arcs. At this point, it begins to parallel the Mad River
, separated by an approximately 2000 feet (609.6 m) divide. The valley then narrows again and turns northeast, while the river receives the water of Butter Creek, and its tributary Indian Valley Creek, on the right bank.
The river then enters the far wider Hyampom Valley, where Hayfork Creek
, its largest tributary, enters from the right as the river winds past the town of Hyampom
. It then passes the Hyampom Airport
also on the right bank while receiving Pelletreau Creek from the left. Here, the river is already wide and powerful, winding across a braided
channel through a wide floodplain. The river enters another narrow canyon, thundering northwest through frequent rapids. It receives Mingo Creek, which has its source in a small meadow from the left, then veers sharply eastward and then turns sharply north. Flowing west then turning sharply east around a ridge, the river receives Madden Creek from the left and crosses underneath California State Route 299
. Directly after this stream crossing, the South Fork meets the Trinity River.
caused it to accrete many terrane
s from the Pacific Ocean region along its west coast. Four major terranes have so far collided with the northwest coast of California—the oldest dating to pre-Jurassic
times—crumpling the crust upwards into the 10000 feet (3,048 m)-high massif of the Klamath Mountains
. Most of the Klamath Mountains consist of granite
and batholith
s underlie most of the major peaks. The second most recent of the terranes—dating to the Cretaceous
—which is composed almost entirely of granite, brought with it a strip of mica
that roughly aligns with the present course of the South Fork Trinity River. The mica caused the granite to become weaker than the surrounding rock, so this area was subjected to greater erosion that created the valley of the South Fork, the lower Trinity River, and the lower Klamath River. This is also why the Klamath and Trinity rivers have this sharp northwest bend on their generally southwest courses, and the South Fork Trinity River valley is the southernmost extension of the roughly 200 miles (321.9 km)-long gorge formed by this abundance of mica.
The vast majority of the South Fork watershed is mountains, with the only level land found in the Hyampom Valley at the confluence of the river and Hayfork Creek, along the Hayfork valley, and along narrow river terraces. There are large parts of the watershed where the ground is composed of stable bedrock
, while large portions of hillsides are composed of loose soil and rock. Historically, riverbeds in the watershed were narrow and rocky, but due to vast amounts of silt washed down by poor logging practices, streambeds have become wide, braided, elevated and shallow.
in the south and Trinity County
in the north, comprising 34 percent of the 2853 mi2 Trinity River watershed. The Hayfork Creek sub-watershed contains 379 mi2, or 38 percent of the entire South Fork Trinity watershed. Most of the watershed lies on public lands (79 percent), while for Hayfork Creek, 78 percent of its watershed lies on public lands. With the Yolla Bolly Mountains in the south and the Klamath Mountains
in the north, the topography of the South Fork Trinity's watershed is dissected by deep gorges and valleys separated by narrow ridges. The South Fork is the largest and longest undammed National Wild and Scenic River
in California. (The Eel River
, also a Wild and Scenic River, is over twice as long, but is dammed near its headwaters.)
While along the length of the South Fork itself there is little human development, it receives agricultural pollutants from Hayfork Creek, whose valley contains over 52000 acres (210.4 km²) of ranchlands and farmlands. In fact, there have been sightings of frequent fish kill
s in Hayfork Creek and it is said to have "severe water quality problems in the summer".
Diversions off Hayfork Creek have only furthered the pollution problem by concentrating it. Logging and road-building are the two primary negative factors affecting the South Fork mainstem. Clearing hillsides has accelerated erosion, clouding the water and causing difficulties for steelhead trout and chinook salmon
, which once spawned in the river in prodigious numbers. Although logging has mostly ceased since the designation of the national forest, the landscape has not yet fully recovered from its impacts.
Much of the South Fork Trinity River's watershed is the Shasta-Trinity National Forest
, which covers most of the mountainous areas in the southern and central part of the watershed, and the Six Rivers National Forest
, which covers most of the northern third of the basin. Nearly the entire length of the South Fork above the Hayfork Creek confluence is inside the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, while below the confluence, national forest lands peter out into privately owned land and the river then enters Six Rivers National Forest. Most of the upper and lower Hayfork Creek reaches also are in the Shasta-Trinity forest, while a large amount of private land surrounds its middle reach. Throughout nearly the entire watershed, there are sporadic patches of private lands and Bureau of Land Management
-owned lands.
monitors the South Fork Trinity River's flow at four gauges; these are at Salyer
, downstream of Hyampom
, at Hyampom upstream of the Hayfork Creek confluence, and Forest Glen (from mouth to source).
The average flow of the river at its mouth is 1807 cuft/s.
For Salyer, closest to the mouth, the highest peak flow was 95400 cuft/s on January 20 in the 1964 flood
, while the lowest was 8480 cuft/s on 31 December 1954.
For the location downstream of Hyampom, the highest recorded peak flow was 88000 cuft/s on 22 December 1964, while the lowest was 620 cuft/s.
For the location at Hyampom, the highest peak was 57000 cuft/s on 22 December 1964, while the lowest was 5020 cuft/s on 13 February 1962.
For Forest Glen, the largest peak was 41200 cuft/s on 22 December 1964, and the lowest was 3530 cuft/s on 13 February 1962.
spurred Europeans, Americans and others to flood the region in search of furs, and later gold. One particular trail crossed through the Yolla Bolly Mountains, then wound down to Hayfork Creek and west to the South Fork Trinity.
In the 1930s, hydraulic mining
was already taking place at the Swanson Mine near the mouth of the river. Beginning in the late 1940s, logging activity took place on mountainsides in the South Fork Trinity's watershed. It was said that the "big logging started when Pat Veneer came in", referring to a logging company from the state of Oregon
. It was not long before debris and silt began to cloud the creeks feeding the South Fork, many of which were still located on United States Forest Service
land.
In the 1960s, specifically in 1964, heavy rains washed enormous amounts of silt from logged lands into the river and its tributaries, clouding the water and killing enormous quantities of wildlife. The flood peaked on 22 December at 95400 cuft/s. It was said that the "South Fork is a lost cause, a dead river which will never recover from the devastation of the 1964 storms.
In the 1970s, anadromous fish populations finally began to decline as a direct result of this constant clouding.
In 1947, Six Rivers National Forest
, which encompasses most of the northernmost quarter of the South Fork Trinity's watershed, was established.
By 1954, the Shasta-Trinity National Forest
, which covers the vast majority of the South Fork Trinity River's watershed, was established, bringing nearly 70 percent of the South Fork watershed under federal protection.
In 1980, the United States Forest Service
designated the South Fork National Recreation Trail, which runs from Forest Glen to near its headwaters.
run was estimated to be as large as 10,000 and with a minimum of 3,400, which declined to an annual run of between 345 and 2,460 prior to 1990. Due to the gradual recovery of the mountainsides after logging, salmon runs have once again begun to return, averaging 2,000 to 4,000. Although the water from the South Fork continues down the Trinity to the Klamath
and eventually, the Pacific Ocean
, undammed, the diversion of most of the Trinity mainstem's water and pollution in the Klamath have made difficult access to the river by migrating fish. It is of note that part of the reason of the declined population is a high mortality rate of female salmon, resulting in less offspring. Generally in summer, temperatures in the river can rise to over 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius), during which introduced species, including green sunfish
.
Remaining old-growth forests in the South Fork watershed provide vital habitat for several threatened and near-threatened species, including the Northern Spotted Owl
and wolverine
.
Trinity River (California)
The Trinity River is the longest tributary of the Klamath River, approximately long, in northwestern California in the United States. It drains an area of the Coast Ranges, including the southern Klamath Mountains, northwest of the Sacramento Valley...
, in the northern part of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
It is part of the Klamath River
Klamath River
The Klamath River is an American river that flows southwest through Oregon and northern California, cutting through the Cascade Range to empty into the Pacific Ocean. The river drains an extensive watershed of almost that stretches from the high desert country of the Great Basin to the temperate...
drainage basin. It flows generally northwest from its source in the Klamath Mountains
Klamath Mountains
The Klamath Mountains, which include the Siskiyou, Marble, Scott, Trinity, Trinity Alps, Salmon, and northern Yolla-Bolly Mountains, are a rugged lightly populated mountain range in northwest California and southwest Oregon in the United States...
, draining about 980 mi2 of mountainous terrain. Flowing from its headwaters in the Yolla Bolly Mountains 92 miles (148.1 km) through Humboldt
Humboldt County, California
Humboldt County is a county in the U.S. state of California, located on the far North Coast 200 miles north of San Francisco. According to 2010 Census Data, the county’s population was 134,623...
and Trinity
Trinity County, California
Trinity County is a large, rugged and mountainous, heavily forested county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of California, along the Trinity River and within the Salmon/Klamath Mountains. It covers an area of over two million acres , and as of the 2010 census its population...
Counties, tributaries to the undammed and Wild and Scenic
National Wild and Scenic River
National Wild and Scenic River is a designation for certain protected areas in the United States.The National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was an outgrowth of the recommendations of a Presidential commission, the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission...
-designated river include Hayfork Creek
Hayfork Creek
Hayfork Creek is a tributary of the South Fork Trinity River in Northern California in the United States. At over long, it is the river's longest tributary and is one of the southernmost streams in the Klamath Basin...
and the East Branch South Fork Trinity.
The river lies in very remote topography and is one of the least developed tributaries of the Trinity River. The resulting pristine habitat is important for several endangered species and rare plants. Historically, the South Fork Trinity was known for its prodigious anadromous fish population and dense old-growth forests, but extensive logging and resource exploitation in the watershed have hurt both of these resources.
Course
The South Fork Trinity River begins in a semicircular amphitheater on the west slope of the Brooks Ridge near North Yolla Bolly Mountain, and winds northwest for a distance variously stated to be from 60 to 92 mi (96.6 to 148.1 km). The headwaters are in an unnamed spring at an elevation of 4460 feet (1,359.4 m). From there, it flows west briefly and turns to the north, receiving numerous small tributaries that together form its headwaters in a series of steep and forested valleys. At about 4 miles (6.4 km) from its source, the Humboldt Trail drops down to river elevation and crosses it, and the river receives north-flowing Shell Mountain Creek from the left. Not long after this point, the East Branch South Fork Trinity River flows in from the right, after having traveled north then west a distance of about 10 miles (16.1 km).The South Fork then shortly after receives Happy Camp Creek from the left and Smoky Creek from the right, then entering an increasingly wide valley, it receives Rattlesnake Creek on the right and flows by the town of Forest Glen, which is also on the right, crossing underneath California State Route 36
California State Route 36
State Route 36 is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that is routed from U.S. Route 101 in Humboldt County to U.S. Route 395 just east of Susanville in Lassen County. The portion of SR 36 travelling past Lassen Volcanic National Park and Lake Almanor is part of the...
. Steadily increasing in volume, the river winds west then turns north, sweeping across the valley floor in wide arcs. At this point, it begins to parallel the Mad River
Mad River (California)
The Mad River is a river in upper Northern California. It flows for in a roughly northwest direction through Trinity County and then Humboldt County, draining a watershed into the Pacific Ocean north of the college town of Arcata near Arcata-Eureka Airport in McKinleyville...
, separated by an approximately 2000 feet (609.6 m) divide. The valley then narrows again and turns northeast, while the river receives the water of Butter Creek, and its tributary Indian Valley Creek, on the right bank.
The river then enters the far wider Hyampom Valley, where Hayfork Creek
Hayfork Creek
Hayfork Creek is a tributary of the South Fork Trinity River in Northern California in the United States. At over long, it is the river's longest tributary and is one of the southernmost streams in the Klamath Basin...
, its largest tributary, enters from the right as the river winds past the town of Hyampom
Hyampom, California
Hyampom is a census-designated place in Trinity County, California. Hyampom sits at an elevation of . The 2010 United States census reported Hyampom's population was 241.-History:...
. It then passes the Hyampom Airport
Hyampom Airport
Hyampom Airport is a county-owned public-use airport and residential airpark located one mile northwest of the central business district of Hyampom, a town in Trinity County, California, United States, and bordering the South Fork Trinity River on its west side.Hyampom has condominiums located on...
also on the right bank while receiving Pelletreau Creek from the left. Here, the river is already wide and powerful, winding across a braided
Braided river
A braided river is one of a number of channel types and has a channel that consists of a network of small channels separated by small and often temporary islands called braid bars or, in British usage, aits or eyots. Braided streams occur in rivers with high slope and/or large sediment load...
channel through a wide floodplain. The river enters another narrow canyon, thundering northwest through frequent rapids. It receives Mingo Creek, which has its source in a small meadow from the left, then veers sharply eastward and then turns sharply north. Flowing west then turning sharply east around a ridge, the river receives Madden Creek from the left and crosses underneath California State Route 299
California State Route 299
State Route 299 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs across the northern part of the state. It runs from Arcata on the Pacific Ocean to the border with Nevada. Between Arcata and Redding, Route 299 junctions with State Route 96 and is briefly co-signed with State Route 3. In...
. Directly after this stream crossing, the South Fork meets the Trinity River.
Geology
Over hundreds of millions of years, the westward movement of North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
caused it to accrete many terrane
Terrane
A terrane in geology is short-hand term for a tectonostratigraphic terrane, which is a fragment of crustal material formed on, or broken off from, one tectonic plate and accreted or "sutured" to crust lying on another plate...
s from the Pacific Ocean region along its west coast. Four major terranes have so far collided with the northwest coast of California—the oldest dating to pre-Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
times—crumpling the crust upwards into the 10000 feet (3,048 m)-high massif of the Klamath Mountains
Klamath Mountains
The Klamath Mountains, which include the Siskiyou, Marble, Scott, Trinity, Trinity Alps, Salmon, and northern Yolla-Bolly Mountains, are a rugged lightly populated mountain range in northwest California and southwest Oregon in the United States...
. Most of the Klamath Mountains consist of granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
and batholith
Batholith
A batholith is a large emplacement of igneous intrusive rock that forms from cooled magma deep in the Earth's crust...
s underlie most of the major peaks. The second most recent of the terranes—dating to the Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
—which is composed almost entirely of granite, brought with it a strip of mica
Mica
The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition...
that roughly aligns with the present course of the South Fork Trinity River. The mica caused the granite to become weaker than the surrounding rock, so this area was subjected to greater erosion that created the valley of the South Fork, the lower Trinity River, and the lower Klamath River. This is also why the Klamath and Trinity rivers have this sharp northwest bend on their generally southwest courses, and the South Fork Trinity River valley is the southernmost extension of the roughly 200 miles (321.9 km)-long gorge formed by this abundance of mica.
The vast majority of the South Fork watershed is mountains, with the only level land found in the Hyampom Valley at the confluence of the river and Hayfork Creek, along the Hayfork valley, and along narrow river terraces. There are large parts of the watershed where the ground is composed of stable bedrock
Bedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
, while large portions of hillsides are composed of loose soil and rock. Historically, riverbeds in the watershed were narrow and rocky, but due to vast amounts of silt washed down by poor logging practices, streambeds have become wide, braided, elevated and shallow.
Watershed
The river and its tributaries drain 980 mi2 in Humboldt CountyHumboldt County, California
Humboldt County is a county in the U.S. state of California, located on the far North Coast 200 miles north of San Francisco. According to 2010 Census Data, the county’s population was 134,623...
in the south and Trinity County
Trinity County, California
Trinity County is a large, rugged and mountainous, heavily forested county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of California, along the Trinity River and within the Salmon/Klamath Mountains. It covers an area of over two million acres , and as of the 2010 census its population...
in the north, comprising 34 percent of the 2853 mi2 Trinity River watershed. The Hayfork Creek sub-watershed contains 379 mi2, or 38 percent of the entire South Fork Trinity watershed. Most of the watershed lies on public lands (79 percent), while for Hayfork Creek, 78 percent of its watershed lies on public lands. With the Yolla Bolly Mountains in the south and the Klamath Mountains
Klamath Mountains
The Klamath Mountains, which include the Siskiyou, Marble, Scott, Trinity, Trinity Alps, Salmon, and northern Yolla-Bolly Mountains, are a rugged lightly populated mountain range in northwest California and southwest Oregon in the United States...
in the north, the topography of the South Fork Trinity's watershed is dissected by deep gorges and valleys separated by narrow ridges. The South Fork is the largest and longest undammed National Wild and Scenic River
National Wild and Scenic River
National Wild and Scenic River is a designation for certain protected areas in the United States.The National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was an outgrowth of the recommendations of a Presidential commission, the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission...
in California. (The Eel River
Eel River (California)
The Eel River is a major river system of the northern Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. Approximately 200 miles long, it drains a rugged area in the California Coast Ranges between the Sacramento Valley and the ocean. For most of its course, the river flows northwest, parallel to the...
, also a Wild and Scenic River, is over twice as long, but is dammed near its headwaters.)
While along the length of the South Fork itself there is little human development, it receives agricultural pollutants from Hayfork Creek, whose valley contains over 52000 acres (210.4 km²) of ranchlands and farmlands. In fact, there have been sightings of frequent fish kill
Fish kill
The term fish kill, known also as fish die-off and as fish mortality, is a localized die-off of fish populations which may also be associated with more generalised mortality of aquatic life...
s in Hayfork Creek and it is said to have "severe water quality problems in the summer".
Diversions off Hayfork Creek have only furthered the pollution problem by concentrating it. Logging and road-building are the two primary negative factors affecting the South Fork mainstem. Clearing hillsides has accelerated erosion, clouding the water and causing difficulties for steelhead trout and chinook salmon
Chinook salmon
The Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, is the largest species in the pacific salmon family. Other commonly used names for the species include King salmon, Quinnat salmon, Spring salmon and Tyee salmon...
, which once spawned in the river in prodigious numbers. Although logging has mostly ceased since the designation of the national forest, the landscape has not yet fully recovered from its impacts.
Much of the South Fork Trinity River's watershed is the Shasta-Trinity National Forest
Shasta-Trinity National Forest
The Shasta-Trinity National Forest is a federally designated forest in northern California, USA. It is the largest National Forest in California and is managed by the United States Forest Service. The 2.2-million acre forest encompasses five wilderness areas, hundreds of mountain lakes and of...
, which covers most of the mountainous areas in the southern and central part of the watershed, and the Six Rivers National Forest
Six Rivers National Forest
Six Rivers National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in the northwestern corner of California. It was established on July 1, 1947 by U.S. President Harry S. Truman from portions of Klamath, Siskiyou and Trinity National Forests. Its over one million acres of land contain a variety of...
, which covers most of the northern third of the basin. Nearly the entire length of the South Fork above the Hayfork Creek confluence is inside the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, while below the confluence, national forest lands peter out into privately owned land and the river then enters Six Rivers National Forest. Most of the upper and lower Hayfork Creek reaches also are in the Shasta-Trinity forest, while a large amount of private land surrounds its middle reach. Throughout nearly the entire watershed, there are sporadic patches of private lands and Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
-owned lands.
Streamflow
The United States Geological SurveyUnited States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
monitors the South Fork Trinity River's flow at four gauges; these are at Salyer
Salyer, California
Salyer is a tiny unincorporated community of 645 in Trinity County, California.Salyer is located on State Highway 299, east of Eureka and west of Redding.The ZIP Code is 95563...
, downstream of Hyampom
Hyampom, California
Hyampom is a census-designated place in Trinity County, California. Hyampom sits at an elevation of . The 2010 United States census reported Hyampom's population was 241.-History:...
, at Hyampom upstream of the Hayfork Creek confluence, and Forest Glen (from mouth to source).
The average flow of the river at its mouth is 1807 cuft/s.
For Salyer, closest to the mouth, the highest peak flow was 95400 cuft/s on January 20 in the 1964 flood
Christmas flood of 1964
The Christmas flood of 1964 was a major flood that took place in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between December 18, 1964 and January 7, 1965, spanning the Christmas holiday.Considered a 100-year flood,...
, while the lowest was 8480 cuft/s on 31 December 1954.
For the location downstream of Hyampom, the highest recorded peak flow was 88000 cuft/s on 22 December 1964, while the lowest was 620 cuft/s.
For the location at Hyampom, the highest peak was 57000 cuft/s on 22 December 1964, while the lowest was 5020 cuft/s on 13 February 1962.
For Forest Glen, the largest peak was 41200 cuft/s on 22 December 1964, and the lowest was 3530 cuft/s on 13 February 1962.
History
For a yet unclear length of time likely stretching into the hundreds of years, the South Fork Trinity River had a rich history of Native Americans. The river annually produced enormous salmon runs, one of the richest sub-basins in the Trinity watershed, and virgin old-growth forests covered most of the watershed. In the 19th century, many events the largest of which was the California Gold RushCalifornia Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
spurred Europeans, Americans and others to flood the region in search of furs, and later gold. One particular trail crossed through the Yolla Bolly Mountains, then wound down to Hayfork Creek and west to the South Fork Trinity.
In the 1930s, hydraulic mining
Hydraulic mining
Hydraulic mining, or hydraulicking, is a form of mining that uses high-pressure jets of water to dislodge rock material or move sediment. In the placer mining of gold or tin, the resulting water-sediment slurry is directed through sluice boxes to remove the gold.-Precursor - ground...
was already taking place at the Swanson Mine near the mouth of the river. Beginning in the late 1940s, logging activity took place on mountainsides in the South Fork Trinity's watershed. It was said that the "big logging started when Pat Veneer came in", referring to a logging company from the state of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. It was not long before debris and silt began to cloud the creeks feeding the South Fork, many of which were still located on United States Forest Service
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
land.
In the 1960s, specifically in 1964, heavy rains washed enormous amounts of silt from logged lands into the river and its tributaries, clouding the water and killing enormous quantities of wildlife. The flood peaked on 22 December at 95400 cuft/s. It was said that the "South Fork is a lost cause, a dead river which will never recover from the devastation of the 1964 storms.
In the 1970s, anadromous fish populations finally began to decline as a direct result of this constant clouding.
In 1947, Six Rivers National Forest
Six Rivers National Forest
Six Rivers National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in the northwestern corner of California. It was established on July 1, 1947 by U.S. President Harry S. Truman from portions of Klamath, Siskiyou and Trinity National Forests. Its over one million acres of land contain a variety of...
, which encompasses most of the northernmost quarter of the South Fork Trinity's watershed, was established.
By 1954, the Shasta-Trinity National Forest
Shasta-Trinity National Forest
The Shasta-Trinity National Forest is a federally designated forest in northern California, USA. It is the largest National Forest in California and is managed by the United States Forest Service. The 2.2-million acre forest encompasses five wilderness areas, hundreds of mountain lakes and of...
, which covers the vast majority of the South Fork Trinity River's watershed, was established, bringing nearly 70 percent of the South Fork watershed under federal protection.
In 1980, the United States Forest Service
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
designated the South Fork National Recreation Trail, which runs from Forest Glen to near its headwaters.
Fish and wildlife
In 1964 before the floods, the spring chinook salmonChinook salmon
The Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, is the largest species in the pacific salmon family. Other commonly used names for the species include King salmon, Quinnat salmon, Spring salmon and Tyee salmon...
run was estimated to be as large as 10,000 and with a minimum of 3,400, which declined to an annual run of between 345 and 2,460 prior to 1990. Due to the gradual recovery of the mountainsides after logging, salmon runs have once again begun to return, averaging 2,000 to 4,000. Although the water from the South Fork continues down the Trinity to the Klamath
Klamath River
The Klamath River is an American river that flows southwest through Oregon and northern California, cutting through the Cascade Range to empty into the Pacific Ocean. The river drains an extensive watershed of almost that stretches from the high desert country of the Great Basin to the temperate...
and eventually, the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, undammed, the diversion of most of the Trinity mainstem's water and pollution in the Klamath have made difficult access to the river by migrating fish. It is of note that part of the reason of the declined population is a high mortality rate of female salmon, resulting in less offspring. Generally in summer, temperatures in the river can rise to over 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius), during which introduced species, including green sunfish
Green sunfish
The green sunfish is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. A panfish popular with anglers, the green sunfish is also kept as an aquarium fish by hobbyists. They are usually caught by accident, while fishing for other game fish...
.
Remaining old-growth forests in the South Fork watershed provide vital habitat for several threatened and near-threatened species, including the Northern Spotted Owl
Northern Spotted Owl
The Northern Spotted Owl, Strix occidentalis caurina, is one of three Spotted Owl subspecies. A Western North American bird in the family Strigidae, genus Strix, it is a medium-sized dark brown owl sixteen to nineteen inches in length and one to one and one sixth pounds. Females are larger than males...
and wolverine
Wolverine
The wolverine, pronounced , Gulo gulo , also referred to as glutton, carcajou, skunk bear, or quickhatch, is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae . It is a stocky and muscular carnivore, more closely resembling a small bear than other mustelids...
.
See also
- South Fork Eel RiverSouth Fork Eel RiverThe South Fork Eel River is the longest and largest tributary of the Eel River, in the north-central part of the U.S. state of California. The river flows north from Laytonville to Dyerville/Founders' Grove where it joins the Eel River on the left bank...
, which has ecology, geography, and a history of logging very similar to that of the South Fork Trinity. - List of rivers of California